


When You Find It, Run (Away With) It

by charliescastiel



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Disgustingly fluffy, M/M, ed attempting to talk about his feelings, inconveniently timed proposals, of course he proposed with a riddle, self aware edward, skeptical oswald, the 5x10 ending we deserved, the most unrealistic part is that they weren't already engaged before this, the world is ending is now really the time to get engaged please get in the sub
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 11:29:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18248933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charliescastiel/pseuds/charliescastiel
Summary: Set post 5x10, Ed and Oswald reach the docks, but Ed has a very important question to ask before they can run away together. Gotham is falling apart around them, but sure Edward now is the perfect time for a proposal.Based on mine and Alex's head-canoning about Ed proposing to Oswald a la the sub pressure regulator reveal because let's face it, he totally would.





	When You Find It, Run (Away With) It

**Author's Note:**

> Please accept this as an apology for all the hurt and suffering I caused with my last piece. I hope this makes up for it. I've been kind of obsessed with this idea since I tweeted about it and it spiralled out of control until it became this. Based on mine and @legendarymars tweets found here: https://twitter.com/kristnkringle/status/1109148474182942722 
> 
> Shout out to Sari for beta'ing this.
> 
> Follow me on twitter @kristnkringle

Ed’s knuckles are white as he grips the steering wheel tightly, speeding through the empty Gotham streets towards the docks.   
Getting from the hospital to the sub feels like being in a game of minesweeper, having to avoid explosions and falling glass and brick with no warning. Neither of them can process that their city, their home, is crumbling around them. They’d made their peace with leaving Gotham, the unspoken implication that their home is not a place anymore but in fact each other, but this still hurts. The army had begun a bombing run about twenty minutes ago and already half the city was in flames.   
Both of them watch the city turn to ruin through the windscreen and wonder if there will even be an intact submarine by the time they arrive.   
They share a relieved glance when they the car eventually rolls to a stop next to Ed’s- no, next to their still standing submarine and they exit the car hastily.   
A building explodes two blocks away and Oswald ducks then quickens his pace towards the sub.   
“Wait.” Ed says, stopping still and reaching out to grab Oswald’s arm to stop him too.   
Oswald turns and looks down at where they touch, feels the warmth seeping through his layers of clothing. He looks back up to Ed, confused.   
Ed drops his grasp on Oswald and clears his throat.   
“I can sneak up on you or be right in front of you without you knowing, but when I reveal myself you will never be the same. What am I?”   
“Betrayal.” Oswald answers immediately, feeling his heart sink, a wave of dread and brokenness hitting him in the chest. “Oh this again?”   
Ed’s face falls, his brows furrow in confusion. “N-no. Love.”   
Now it’s Oswald’s turn to look confused. Ed pulls off his hat and puts his hand inside it and Oswald takes an instinctive step back, expecting a gun.   
Instead, Ed pulls out a small black velvet box, flicking it open in a neat gesture with his thumb and forefinger to reveal a beautiful silver ring with a (tastefully) large green stone. Oswald’s jaw literally drops and he takes another step back. “What is this?”   
Ed looks like he swallowed a bag of rocks and has paled significantly.   
Oswald closes his eyes in exasperation, if this is a trick, after everything they’ve been through, after how close they have become in the past nine months, practically inseparable, it would be the cruelest thing Ed has ever done. If it’s not- well, that’s too much to even consider.   
When he opens his eyes, Ed is down on one knee, his eyes hopeful, honest, fond. Oswald can’t process it, thinks maybe he’s stopped breathing. “What are you saying?” He manages. “And if you speak another god damn riddle Edward I swear to-“   
“I’m saying that I promise to never, ever betray you again, I promise to stand by your side, no matter what and I promise to love you, always. I will follow you until my death, Oswald. I love you.”   
Oswald blinks, barely manages that.   
“Will you marry me?”   
Oswald is silent for a long time. Too long. Ed’s knee starts to ache, he can hear his own heartbeat. He bites his lip until it’s almost bleeding to ground himself.   
Oswald scans Ed’s face once more, he isn’t sure what he’s looking for or if he finds it but fortune favours the bold, right?   
“Yes.” Oswald says quietly, Ed’s mouth twitches. “Yes!” He says again, more enthusiastically and there it is. What he was looking for.   
Ed’s face completely transforms and honestly Oswald doesn’t know if he’s ever seen him so happy.   
“Yes!” He says again just for the hell of it and to keep that look on Eds face for as long as possible. Ed moves to stand up, his eyes singularly focused on Oswald’s left hand and before his brain catches up with his body Oswald is practically jumps on Ed, knocking him off balance with a surprised huff.   
Ed’s arms instinctively wrap around him and after a moment he squeezes tightly, his hands fisting into the fabric of Oswald’s suit.   
Oswald buries his face in crook of Ed’s neck and presses a light kiss to his shoulder. He feels the rumble of Ed’s laugh against his chest and presses another kiss there, this time harder.   
Ed laughs again, the sound beautiful and free. Oswald relishes in it. They stay like that for a prolonged moment, holding each other, before Ed starts to twitch under Oswald.   
Oswald pulls back to look at Ed’s face. He looks antsy, impatient. Oh. Oswald’s expression softens and he runs his left hand down Ed’s arm until he reaches his hand. He intertwines their fingers then brings their hands up towards his mouth and presses a soft kiss on Ed’s knuckles.   
Ed is literally vibrating at this point and Oswald knows he should stop teasing him but his impatience is so flattering and adorable.   
Oswald stretches his fingers, but doesn’t let go of Ed’s hand. “Go on then.” He says fondly.   
The speed with which Ed pulls the ring from the box and slips it on his finger would be comical if it wasn’t so intense.   
The ring fits perfectly like it was made for him and only him and as Oswald moves his hand under the light to admire it he feels a lump form in his throat. The emerald green stone is bold and audacious and somehow shines a vibrant purple when the light hits it right and it’s so stunningly them that Oswald can’t help but feel claimed.   
He looks up towards Ed to see him staring at the ring, biting his lower lip and his eyes glistening. He stares at Edward, drinking him in. He’s never looked so beautiful. Ed eventually picks up on his stillness and looks up to meet Oswald’s gaze, his face falling slightly.   
“Do you like it?”   
“I love it. It’s perfect.” Oswald says sincerely and Ed smiles shyly. “How long have you been planning this?” Oswald asks and Ed’s cheeks stain red a little.   
“Not long- a while- maybe since I found out you saved my life. Again.” Ed stutters and Oswald almost gets whiplash from the wave of nostalgia that overtakes him. Suddenly he’s back in Ed’s quirky old apartment, sat across from him using breakfast utensils as an instrument. He longs for that time, for that soft spoken, naive chrysalis of a man who idolised and kidnapped the infamous Penguin for advice on how to become a villain. For better or worse, they’ve come so far.   
He looks at Ed as he is now; the green tailored suit as vibrant as the stone on his ring, the bowler hat, the pristine hair, the sharp set of his jaw and the darkened eyes that- no. Since becoming the Riddler, Ed has been sometimes unrecognisable, the weight of his pain, his grief and his anger changing the way he holds himself. But not right now. Not when he’s looking at Oswald. He looks like he did back in the good old days of Mayor Cobblepot and Chief of Staff Edward Nygma; vulnerable, affectionate, fond. Like he’s afraid to let go and embrace his feelings for Oswald fully, like he can’t believe this is real. How funny it is that they both seem to be in a state of hesitant disbelief.   
As they continue to stare at each other, he realises he doesn’t have to long for that time, for that Ed. Because although this Ed is different, he isn’t unrecognisable, and all the things that made Oswald fall for Ed in the first place still remain.     
And then there’s all of the new things   
Ed’s confidence, his charisma, his genius. Ed has always been intelligent, the way his mind works unconventional and fascinating, a brilliant asset, a loyal employee and a great friend. But somewhere along the way he lost the insecurities and hesitance that he had when they first met. Even at the worst of times, Oswald has always been in awe of the way Ed has evolved as a person. And he is proud to have had such a huge role in fundamentally shaping him, even if it did involve his own attempted murder. Several times over.   
A huff of laughter escapes Oswald as he remembers all their talk of fate and how they wouldn’t be right here right now if things hadn’t unfolded exactly the way they did.   
“Why now? Why propose?” Oswald asks. “I mean- ask a guy out to dinner first maybe.”   
Ed looks... embarrassed? He won’t meet Oswald’s eye.   
“Ed? What is it?”   
“I- I haven’t felt more comfortable, more purposeful, more... loved, than I have working by your side every day on this submarine. At least not since the mayoral days. The closeness we have developed over these past months has been… unexpected. I entered this partnership expecting a mutually beneficial arrangement where you provide the funds and I provide the labour but- somewhere along the way my feelings changed, or maybe they were there all along.” Ed still won’t look anywhere near Oswald, his brows knitted like this is a physically painful conversation for him, which knowing Ed and feelings, it probably is. Oswald remains silent in an attempt to encourage Ed to continue, since prompting him would probably cause him to shut down. “I’m not good at this, Oswald.”

Oswald squeezes Ed’s hand in reassurance and Ed squeezes back then huffs out a tiny laugh.

“What we have managed to rebuild despite everything we put each other through, and in spite of all the chaos and destruction going on around us- it shouldn’t be possible.” Ed takes another long pause. “I spent a lot of hours working on that submarine, alone. It gave me a lot of time to think. About you, about us, about why I was willing to design and build the damn thing from scratch so we could run away together.” He squeezes his eyes shut.  “There’s only one reason.”  
Oswald feels tears threaten to spill over and brushes his thumb across Ed’s knuckles.

“We have wasted so much time hating each other, we- _I_ have spent so much time trying to- to kill you. It consumed me and I- regret the way I acted. It took an unnatural effort to hate you, but loving you is easy.” He pauses. “Even if accepting it… was not.”

Ed takes a deep breath, seems to realise what an intense turn his words have taken. He shakes his head to break the tension and finally drags his eyes back up to meet Oswald’s.   
“That and to be perfectly honest we have been practically dating since I moved in with you so proposing was really the next logical step. What’s the point in a courtship when I already know you’re mine?”   
Oswald blinks then laughs loudly at Ed’s unconventional yet not entirely flawed logic.   
“What?” Ed asks.   
“I love you.” Oswald blurts out and Ed still has the audacity to look shocked as if he hadn’t proposed and become engaged to Oswald literally five minutes prior. “What?”   
“Say it again.” Ed says intensely.   
“I love you.” Oswald is more than happy to oblige if Ed continues to react like that.   
“I love you too.” Ed breathes then pulls Oswald in by his lapels for a long, long overdue kiss. It’s messy and imperfect but Oswald wouldn’t change a thing. He stands on his tip toes and winds his arms around Ed for balance, tugging on the short hairs at base of his neck, the silver band of Oswald’s ring a pleasing sensation.   
Ed deepens the kiss, meaning to claim Oswald and fervently ignore everything else going on around them. Eventually they break apart as another bomb drops too close for comfort and Oswald laughs in exasperation.   
“What are we still doing here? We could die at any second.”   
“Exactly.” Ed replies with a desperation that stuns Oswald. “I just- This is a fresh start for us, Oswald. A chance to do things right, not to go back to the way things were but to move forward and build something better, something stronger. Somewhere far away from here, together.” He pauses to collect his thoughts. “And what better place than right here - on this pier, that has shaped so much of our history - to redefine ourselves as partners. As soulmates.”   
Ed sounds so certain, so heartfelt. His eyes are vulnerable and soft, full of love and hope. Oswald feels a tear slip down his cheek and Ed reaches out with his thumb to wipe it away softly, his touch lingering on Oswald’s face.   
“Soulmates?” He repeats in a whisper.   
And Ed just looks at him like Oswald is the one who has taken years to figure it out.

“Soulmates.” Ed repeats simply, then grabs Oswald’s hand confidently, squeezing tightly and maintaining a firm grip.   
“So we are really doing this?” Oswald asks, looking at their intertwined fingers, needing verbal affirmation just one more time.   
“If you’ll still have me.” Ed says, betraying more nervousness than he intended.   
Oswald smiles softly, takes a moment to decide whether to say it. “As my mother used to say, life only gives you one true love, when you find it, run to it.”   
“Or in this case, run away with it.” Ed beams, a glint in his eye.   
A loud, bright laugh escapes Oswald and Ed follows and they are both laughing like lovestruck idiots as bombs continue to fall on a lost Gotham.   
“Then after you Mr Nygma.” Ed says, holding their hands up as he helps Oswald climb the ladder of the sub.   
“Where to first, Mr Cobblepot?” Oswald asks as they near the top.   
“Anywhere, as long as it’s with you.”   


  



End file.
